


And I swear I will save you, even if it costs me.

by bartonmised



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Arc Reactor, M/M, Palladium Poisoning, Pre-Slash, Thoughts on Death, Tony Has Issues, no guesses on what steve was drawing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-07
Updated: 2012-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 04:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/426866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bartonmised/pseuds/bartonmised
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You realize that Bruce isn’t really a medical doctor - ok ok fine stop giving me that look. Basically long story short, arc reactor has a palladium core and it’s supposed to keep me alive but now I’ve got palladium poisoning and I’m probably going to die soon.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	And I swear I will save you, even if it costs me.

**Author's Note:**

> VIRGIN ATTEMPT AT FANFICING. I stress the word virgin. Hence why it reads so simply. I know this makes absolutely no sense at all since (although it wasn’t mentioned in Iron Man 2) Tony’s arc reactor core is vibranium, and Steve’s shield would be there for Tony to get the epiphany but please suspend your belief for the sake of my virgin attempts at writing a fanfic? I can’t write at all but I got this idea and it wouldn’t let me go. And don’t get mad at me for what you’re about to read because I might have done something unforgivable in the course of this fic.

If there was one thing he was going to miss when he dies – not that he’ll really miss it since he would be dead and he won’t have feelings or consciousness or whatever, Tony Stark does not believe in the afterlife, he’s lived enough in this one already thank you very much – was moments like these in the lab, quietly passing time with the people he loved: JARVIS, his bots Dummy and Butterfingers, and Steve.

Well as quiet as you can get while AC/DC blasts over the high tech speakers of Tony’s lab. It was reserved for the best music only, and he was adamant to educate Steve on the wonders of music from the modern age.

Steve was sitting on his couch sketching something. Tony never got to see what he was sketching because whenever he tried to scoot behind Steve to steal a peek, the man always managed to close the book in time. Damn enhanced super soldier senses. He supposed he could get JARVIS to just move the security camera a bit, but what’s the fun in that?

Tony reached for bottle of chlorophyll – the damn stuff tasted disgusting, but god knows he would do anything to stay alive for a bit longer. It was his always-reliably-shit-luck that he would contract palladium poisoning just when he was starting to warm up with Cap. At the rate he was going, he probably only had a few weeks to live, at most a month. He’d calculated every single possibility, and even considered experimenting with gamma radiation before he remembered what that had done to one of his closest friends.

Tony looked up when the pleasant guitar riffs of “Shoot To Thrill” suddenly stopped, and startled when he saw Steve staring intently at his neck. The expression on his face was one of confusion – oh fuck no. Tony stilled as Steve reached towards his shirt collar and pulled it down to reveal the engorged veins.

“Tony, what is this?” Steve reached out to touch his skin and Tony gulped. He hadn’t planned on telling anyone, he’d just intended on leaving everyone the fuck alone after passing on from high toxicity levels.

“It’s nothing, just haven’t been eating healthily enough blah blah hey weren’t you talking about making new arrows for Clint earlier today at training-“

“Don’t try to steer the conversation away Tony, other than drinking insane amounts of that green stuff you haven’t changed your diet lately. Now tell me what that is on your neck or I swear I will strap you down myself and call Bruce to conduct a very thorough health check on you.” Steve threatened and held onto Tony’s arm to stop him from flitting away. Tony wilted under the intense gaze.

“You realize that Bruce isn’t really a doctor - ok ok fine stop giving me that look. Basically long story short, arc reactor has a palladium core and it’s supposed to keep me alive but now I’ve got palladium poisoning and I’m probably going to die soon.” Tony winced as the look on Steve’s face morphed from confusion to horror.

“And you didn’t think to even tell me?” Steve’s grip on his arm tightened.

“Wow there Cap, mind loosening your grip a bit I don’t fancy having another injury added to my body.” Tony sighed. “It’s not just you, I wasn’t going to tell anyone. It’s my problem.” Tony immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say as he saw Steve’s face blacken.

“Your problem? Let me remind you that you’re part of a team Tony. You’re part of a team that saves the world and we need you at your optimum level of health in order to do that. So your problem is the team’s problem and if you thought that you were the lone wolf of the pack then maybe Agent Romanoff’s personality profile of you was right. You’re a selfish bastard.” Steve snarled.

“Well I’m sorry if I’m a selfish bastard but if you haven’t noticed this already I don’t exactly play well with others and I don’t feel comfortable broadcasting to everyone every fucking problem about me. And it’s not like I haven’t tried every single possibility already – I’ve researched all the elements, chemical formulas and alternatives – but a cure doesn’t seem to exist. The only thing I haven’t tried is sticking a piece of your shield into my arc reactor because that’s all that exists in the world!” Tony snapped and then turned silent as Steve stared at Tony with wide eyes. Then he released Tony’s arm and walked out of the lab.

Tony deflated. In the end, they always leave. Maybe this was for the better, one less person to deal with and say his goodbyes to. Tony turned back to – what was he even working on earlier. He couldn’t comprehend the figures on his screen, it was all turning into a mass of blur.

But then the lab doors opened, and there Steve was clutching onto his shield. He walked towards Tony – past him – towards the –

“Steve what are you doing?!” Tony exclaimed as Steve stopped in front of the furnace.

“I want you to melt it down, and take however much you need out of it.” Tony gaped at him in shock, the man had clearly lost his mind. Tony knew that the Cap was a good person and all things virtuous, but this was his beloved shield. The object that represented Captain America. He wasn’t going to make a man part with his beloved just to save his own life. Also, Fury and Coulson would probably kill him. Coulson would do it slowly too considering how much he had fawned over the prototype.

“No they won’t, I’ll make sure of it. And yes you will. I mean – I will let you. Just take it kay, Tony? I need you on the team. I need – I need you fighting with me. Alongside me. Not half dying, so that I won’t have one more thing to worry about.” Steve looked at him, blue eyes pleading and Tony visibly crumbled.

“I’ll only take a bit.” Tony promised.

Steve nodded. “You better. I want it back looking good as new after you’re done with it.” And with that said, Steve turned around and left Tony alone in the lab to work his genius – and survive.


End file.
